The history of pomenia
Childhood games
The magical world originated in the childhood of the fairy tale artist Petronella Grahn.
“It’s a blessing to live and grow up in an artist’s home filled with siblings, imagination, joy, and beautiful, multicolored hues. Throughout my childhood, I was in my own worlds. I played, invented my own stories, sang, composed, played the violin and piano, and listened to the fairy tales my grandmother read. Imagination made the impossible possible – creativity frolicked in stories, dance, and music. My childhood was filled with magic, and in the whispering of the pines in the nearby forest, one adventure after another was always waiting for its explorer.”
v. 1997 The first dragon hat
The magical world of Pomerania became visible when fairy tale artist Petronella Grahn sewed the first dragon hat for her eldest son. The pattern for the hat was drawn freehand on the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper laid out on the kitchen table, and cut into the right shape with kitchen scissors. The hat was sewn together on a sewing machine received from her grandmother. Hooray! The adventure towards her own whimsical and playful children’s clothing line began!
v. 1999 Children's playground
Pomerania’s founder, Petronella Grahn, opened the family park Children’s Playground Nelli in Vantaa, where children played wild and terrifically fun outdoor games. In the park, parents met each other and shared the joys, sorrows, and best advice of everyday life. Petronella’s playground equipment adorned with fairy-tale paintings, huts built from fabrics, climbing ropes, and real pots with jugs for water and mud play kicked the children’s games into full gear. The park created wonderful communal memories, provided important peer support for parenting, and fostered deep friendships. It was also a place where Petronella’s first fairy-tale creations were tested and sold.
v. 2000-2018 The fairy-tale Tinttu.com
Suddenly, play also took flight in clothing, and EVERYONE wanted to be dragons, fairies, foxes, bunnies, and… trolls! Thus, Petronella founded Tinttu.com, a children’s clothing workshop and online store. The fantasy clothing brought adventure and play into the everyday lives of families with children all around Finland and Europe. The magical world of Pomerania, with its stories and fairy-tale characters, saw the first light of day through the children’s clothing collection at Tinttu.com.
v. 2001 "Like a fairy tale book on the wall"
The door to Pomerania also opened in the form of large mural paintings. The first magical landscape of Pomerania was conjured up in the Vekkuli daycare in Kotka in 2001. After that, Petronella painted large murals across Finland, including for Mehiläinen in Tikkurila, the Jorvi children’s hospital wards L1 and L3, and the Kotka children’s hospital covering 250 m2. Additionally, several private homes and daycares have been enchanted with the atmosphere of the magical world. Wow!
v.2013
Satutaiteilijan ensimmäinen taidenäyttely
The walls couldn’t be moved for others to see, and the created fairy tale characters couldn’t be taken to Tinttu.com’s prints and interior stickers without learning new skills. So, the large wall murals turned into paper drawings and then into sparkling canvas paintings. The first art exhibition was held for the created artworks, and prints were made from the original images for clothes, posters, and cards. The first mural wallpaper and interior sticker collection was also created, including Mr. Owl traveling to many homes to nap… Krooh-pyyh..
The enchanted fairy tale pictures with fairy tale characters told the story of Pomenia, and opened the door to the magical world for everyone. Magic dust!
Year 2015 - Pomenia's first fairy tale book
Petronella named the dreamy land of Pomenia and wrote down and sketched the fairy-tale pictures painted from the magical world into fairy-tale books.
It was decided to publish Pomenia’s first Fairy Dust of the Fairy -storybook. When the book sold out, it was turned into an enchanting audio-visual fairy tale video for all adventurers of the magical world! Oh!
Listen and take a peek at the Fairy Dust Book read aloud as a fairy tale video.
Years 2016-2019 - Dreams Come True!
Petronella wanted to make her dreams come true and bring the tales and fairy-tale characters of Pomenia from the background of design. She put Tinttu.com on hold and turned the bedtime stories she had been telling children for over twenty years into real storybooks, as well as learned to draw on the computer. Over the years, the magical places and fairy-tale characters of Pomenia began to take shape. The fairy-tale world of Pomenia was digitized, and the 2D characters were animated. As if by magic, the fairy-tale characters could walk, dance, talk, and FLY! Magic!
Year 2020 - Wuhuu! Pomenia's Fairy Tale Books!
The first part of the Pomenia book trilogy, ‘Pomenia – The Great Adventure in the Magic World,’ a picture book aimed at younger children, started the extensive Pomenia series in Finland in the fall of 2020. In November 2020, both Pomenia books were on the best-selling children’s books list in Finland, as well as in November 2021, the last part of the trilogy.
Fairy tales, adventure, magic dust, and enchantment!
At the same time, participatory pedagogical Pomenia activity cards and the Fairy Tale Adventure board game were released.
In 2021, the second and third parts of the book trilogy were published, along with the smaller fairy tale book ‘Sisu the Hero’ and the bravery cards of the dragon Sisu. Additionally, the main story of Pomenia was planned for global distribution as an animated series and film developed by a European production company.
Indeed! The magical world of Pomenia is more than just a dragon’s hat!
v.2021-2022
Fabrics, clothing collections, and the Pomenia shop
It was time to open our own Pomenia shop online store and create enchanting Design by Petronella Grahn Pomenia products. It was a good start as well as by forging a licensing partnership in children’s and adult clothing collections with Ehta by Dream Circus. The first Pomenia collection made in Finland was launched in the fall of 2021, and at the same time, the sale of Pomenia fabrics began.
In the fall, the first book fairs were held after the coronavirus lockdown, and Pomenia finally received official book releases as well as new pedagogical material – the Magnificent Fairy Tale Adventure Cards from the Magical World.
The translation rights agreement for the fairy tale books was also signed in 2021 with Bonnier Rights literary agency. Pomenia’s fairy tale books for children worldwide, hurray!
v.2022-2023 Enchanting Interior Design
Pomenia’s animation development was put on hold for a while due to the pandemic, but another huge dream came true when a major interior design production contract was signed with a Finnish company in spring 2022. So, in 2023, there will be a deep dive into interior design and magic will be created everywhere!
Fairy tale wallpapers Small and large wall, floor, and decorative stickers Ornamental cut-out wooden play background boards and soundproofing panels Fairy tale-themed illuminated pictures Furniture collections for playrooms and children’s rooms with various theme worlds (for homes and daycare centers).
The world of Pomenia is...
Magnificent fairy tale books, playful interactive educational skill games, enchanting accessories for children and adults, magical fabrics, adorable fairy tale hats with elf ears, cheerful Tinttu tunics, and magical Design by fairytale artist Petronella Grahn products.
In 2023, in addition to home decor, we will release new Pomenia games, delightful playsets, magical fabrics, BIG coloring rolls, and in May, the awesome “Ruttu Rusina Won’t Wrinkle” fairy tale book. It may be that if things go really well, we’ll even have some Pomenia plushies before the year is out.
How wonderful that you are joining us on this adventure!
POSTERS AND CARDS
Stunning art posters! Create magic with a poster anywhere! Hang it on the wall of your workspace, in a prominent place in the living room, or in the hallway to delight visitors. Fairy tales and adventures are for everyone, everywhere, now and always. The prints are made from Fairytale Artist Petronella's original works. Country of manufacture: Finland
FAIRYTALE INSPIRED DECOR
Create your favorite rooms and sprinkle fairy tale magic everywhere. Of course! So, paint with colors alongside the most beautiful fairy tale wallpapers. Enhance the magic with fairy tale stickers and even fairy tale clocks! Choose from several enchanting themes, all with magic and sparkle! Country of manufacture: Finland
A clothing and hat collection just for jesters!
In the charming and cheerful collection designed for all jesters, Pomenia's cuddly and soft, there's always joyful playfulness and magic present. Just so! They're a tad more than you even dare to hope for. The clothes and winter fairy tale hats are handmade in Finland. Design by Fairytale Artist Petronella Grahn
